House Democrats recently introduced legislation designed to make the 30 million Americans who use public transportation and passenger rails safer by correcting the lack of funds for transit security.
The Secure Transit and Railroads Across America and Investment in National Security Act of 2005, or the Secure TRAINS Act, introduced by Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and others, creates dedicated funding for rail and transit security, and requires DHS to submit a National Transportation Security Plan for the nation's entire transportation system.
The bill also provides whistleblower protections for transit employees who identify problems in transit security. These are the same protections stockbrokers and accountants already get when reporting corporate fraud.